"The blond angel of death", Alfredo Astiz, sentenced to life imprisonment

Alfredo Astiz

REUTERS - Alfredo Astiz, known as the "Blond Angel of Death", and 11 others were sentenced Wednesday to life imprisonment in Argentina at the end of a trial-river on the crimes of the dictatorship in the 1970s. Alfredo Astiz and other members of death squads were tried for crimes committed at the Graduate School of Mechanical Argentine Navy (ESMA), where some 5,000 dissidents were imprisoned and tortured under the dictatorship from 1976 to 1983. Few prisoners were released alive. After this trial of 22 months, during which 79 survivors testified, 12 defendants have been jailed for life while four others were sentenced to terms ranging from 18 to 25 years in prison.

Among those sentenced to life imprisonment figure including Jorge Acosta, nicknamed "the Tiger", who said during the trial that "violations of human rights are inevitable in war." Despite the cold night, hundreds of people gathered outside the court in Buenos Aires, himself crowded to hear the trial. Some brandished portraits of the victims. The crowd applauded the verdict of each statement. "We can finally live in peace, knowing that justice has been done," said a woman at an Argentine television network. The insults have rockets against Alfredo Astiz when his sentence was announced. Once all the judgments, the crowd began to dance, some crying, some kissing.

Former naval officer Alfredo Astiz had boasted of his crimes in an interview in 1998 in a magazine. He was then presented as "the best trained man in Argentina to kill journalists and politicians". "I regret nothing", he had also said.

Infiltration During the dictatorship, he infiltrated the organizations defending human rights which the members were then removed. He was sentenced in absentia in France for the kidnapping of two French nuns imprisoned in the ESMA, the most famous of the secret prisons of the military dictatorship. It is estimated that only 200 people survived the prisons located in this military school. Most of the 5,000 other prisoners were drugged, put in planes and dumped at sea.

While the prisoners were held for hours, some for years, under the eaves of the residence the officers of the ESMA, the latter continued to live a normal life in the lower floors.

Organizations defending human rights to 30,000 deaths estimate the number of victims of six years of dictatorship in Argentina. After the fall of the military regime of former junta members were convicted before being granted amnesty. Alfredo Astiz himself has tried to resume a normal life. He has been photographed in nightclubs or its resorts. Become a symbol of the crimes of the dictatorship, however, he was assaulted several times in public.

In 2005, the Supreme Court of Argentina has returned to the amnesty laws at the request of then President Nestor Kirchner, Cristina Fernandez, whose widow has just been re-elected to head the country. Since then, the Argentine courts sentenced several former officers for violations of human rights. Nestor Kirchner and Cristina Fernandez met as students in the 1970s. Many of their friends were abducted and murdered at this time because of their political activities.

Cristina Kirchner re-elected during a tsunami tidal wave election in Argentina.

Cristina Kirchner

AFP - Argentine President Cristina Kirchner, 58, was re-elected for four years Sunday in the first round of the presidential election during a real tsunami tidal wave election and said she was "impressed" and "grateful" after the result. "These figures impress me and I am infinitely grateful," said the President addressing the Argentines. "If I talked about those numbers there are only two years, we have treated crazy!" She said. Mrs. Kirchner won 53.96% of the vote against 16.87% for his main rival, the Socialist Hermes Binner, and 11.15% in the radical Ricardo Alfonsin, according to official results on 98.25% of polling stations.

The remaining percentage of votes on the subject of claims, and the final result and complete to be published before December 10, the start of the new mandate. After this election, at which the Argentines renewed at the same time half the seats in the Chamber of Deputies and one third of the Senate, the Front for Victory Mrs. Kirchner found in 2009 lost the majority in both houses. After the announcement of Ms. Kirchner spoke to young people and danced for a long time alongside his running mate, the Economy Minister Amado Boudou. "I want to thank the crowd of young Argentines who again appropriate the Plaza de Mayo," said the President.

For his part, Mr. Binner has conceded defeat by congratulating "Mrs. President". However, he argued that his training was a "novelty" in the political landscape. "This force is the second in the country", launched Mr. Binner, recalling that a socialist had just passed a radical, unheard of in Argentina. The President pointed out that several Latin American counterparts had called to congratulate her, including the President of Brazil Dilma Rousseff which was "very loving words." Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez for his part, welcomed "the full support call" that Argentines have made to Mrs. Kirchner. To be elected in the first round, Mrs. Kirchner would get more than 45% of the vote, more than 40% with a lead of more than 10 points over his main rival.

"The difference (between Mrs. Kirchner and his main rival) is historic," said Rosendo Fraga analyst, institute Nueva Mayoría. For its part, Mariel Fornoni, Fit & Management, said that with the exception of the Province of San Luis (center), Mrs. Kirchner "won the victory over the country." The classes, traditional electorate of Peronism, he had gained, but much of the middle classes and even executives who were counting on economic stability. Consumption is booming, with 4% increase per year and the unemployment rate is just over 7%. Growth was 8% on average since 2003 except 2009.

Argentina also benefits from soaring commodity prices, particularly soybeans, which is the third largest exporter. Mrs. Kirchner has also peace with the middle classes, that her husband was frightened during the conflict with farmers, in 2008, refusing any negotiations until the end. The death of her husband last year allowed him also to give her a different picture, less authoritarian and more consensual.